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Emery Reel"...For and Acted Upon Through Diversions"

(First Flight Records 2003)

Retaining your interest is no problem for Emery Reel on their debut album. Seven instrumental tracks with (just slightly) pretentious titles that might seem mild at first but can quickly build up to create organized chaos. And on "...For and Acted Upon Through Diversions," the spotlight is not on one instrument; it is an ensemble.

With a short prologue sort of beginning, "They Are Cohercing Ideas Into The Mind" opens with spacey riffs that comes rapidly together for an orchestral mish mosh of sounds, creating an obtrusive object before you -- with "...For and Acted Upon Through Diversions," you get shapes, not just sounds. Quieter, the aptly titled "A New Beginning" is mellower and less intense as drums patter and guitars call up simple riffs before picking up some speed and abandoning the more stripped down sound of earlier in the song. Contrasting a deeper drone with twinkling vibraphone, "Hence; Therefore, Again" is focused and engaging while the softer lullaby beginning of "Departure of Hope" swells back and forth from a simple guitar riff with the vibes and drums to a comfortable, almost jam feel. Retaining the softer approach with "Cam's March" and "His Hammer Is My Axe," Emery Reel offer simple non-melodies -- avoiding catchy lines that stick out, that is -- where the drums add depth while the guitars give their distorted riffs that fade in and out. The slow and deliberate growth of the dynamics on "His Hammer Is My Axe," in particular, is thoughtful and offers the listener more edge than previous tracks. This time contrasting drums with a soft melody, "Uneasy, The Crossing Guard" ingeniously uses the sound of children playing sporadically throughout it.

While it would probably take a few listens before any one song in particular gets stuck in your head, Emery Reel makes your fifty minute investment worthwhile and offer you the option of relaxing or tapping your foot along to the music. Not focused completely on one instrument, "...For and Acted Upon Through Diversions" is a work of the whole band as each song work its dynamics and offers a sometimes dramatic sound when not almost seeming lighthearted with the pinging sound of the ice cream man.